Incumbent President Emmanuel Macron will face far-right nationalist Marine Le Pen in the run-off for the winning French president. Both advanced on Sunday in the first round of elections in the country to create a new direct clash of their sharply opposite visions of France.
Sociological agencies’ forecasts and a partial official vote count have shown that France is preparing to repeat the run-off in 2017, which made Macron the country’s youngest president, but with no guarantee this time that the result will be the same.
Addressing his supporters, who chanted “five more years”, Macron warned that “nothing has been done” and said the next two weeks of the second round of elections on April 24 will be crucial for our country and for Europe. “
Claiming that Le Pen would reconcile France with “populists and xenophobes”, he said: “This is not us”.
“I want to appeal to everyone who wants to work for France,” he said. He promised to “carry out the project of progress, French and European openness and independence that we have advocated.”
French far-right candidate Marine Le Pen is speaking at his headquarters on election day in Paris on Sunday. (Francois Mori / Associated Press)
With two-thirds of the vote counted, Macron and Le Pen withdrew comfortably from left-wing leader Jean-Luc Melanchon, who was eliminated in the run-off with two third-place candidates.
Other major candidates conceded defeat and, with the exception of another far-right candidate, Eric Zemmour, all called on voters to support the incumbent president on April 24 to block the far right.
Macron, Le Pen appeal to divided voters
After the forecasts were announced, Macron sought widespread support, calling on those from the main left and right to rejoin his project and defeat the far right.
“I want to address everyone who wants to work for France. “I am ready to come up with something new to bring together different beliefs and perspectives, to build joint action with them,” he said, promising to “implement the project of progress, French and European openness and independence that we have advocated.”
Macron supporters are celebrating at his headquarters on election night in Paris on Sunday. Macron will face Le Pen in the second round on April 24. (Thibaut Camus / Associated Press)
For his part, Le Pen seems to be targeting left-wing supporters in particular, promising “social justice” and amendments to “torn France”.
“The French people honored me by qualifying for the second round,” Le Pen said Sunday night as he thanked his supporters and called on those who did not vote for Macron to support her in the runoff.
Her supporters celebrated with champagne and interrupted her speech with the chanting “We will win!”
Yet some of her defeated rivals were so worried about Le Pen’s chance of defeating Macron in the presidential run-off that she called on her supporters on Sunday to transfer their votes in the second round to the current president. Melanchon, addressing supporters who sometimes shed tears, repeated three times that Le Pen should not receive a “single vote”.
Volunteers from the polling stations are counting the ballots in the first round of the French presidential election in Strasbourg on Sunday. (Jean-François Badias / Associated Press)
Describing herself as “deeply concerned”, defeated Conservative candidate Valerie Pecres warned of “the chaos that will follow” if Le Pen is elected, saying the far-right leader has never been so close to power. Pekres said he would vote for Macron in the runoff.
Macron’s campaign stumbles
The presidential run-off in two weeks seems ready to pit the centrist president, who seeks to modernize the economy and boost European co-operation, against the nationalist Le Pen, who is trying to soften her party’s racist reputation.
This time, Le Pen touched on the most important issue in the minds of many French voters: the cost of living, which has risen amid the end of the war in Ukraine and the economic consequences of Western sanctions against Russia.
Voters in Paris are lining up to vote in the first round of Sunday’s French presidential election. (Louis Jolie / Associated Press)
Sociologists suggest that only a few percentage points could separate known enemies in the second round.
This nail biting scenario creates a runoff campaign that is likely to be much more confrontational and volatile than during the first round, which was largely overshadowed by the war in Ukraine.
For less than two decades, the French president has not won a second term.
Just a month ago, Macron seemed almost certain he would reverse this trend, rising high in the polls thanks to strong economic growth, fragmented opposition and his state role in trying to prevent war on Europe’s eastern flank.
But he paid the price for his late entry into the campaign, during which he avoided shopping in rural France in favor of a single large rally outside Paris. The plan to make people work longer also proved unpopular.
People in Marseilles are queuing for the first round of Sunday’s French presidential election. (Daniel Cole / Associated Press)
In contrast, Le Pen has been touring towns and villages across France for months, focusing on the cost of living that worries millions and touching on deep-seated anger at the distant political elite.
The lead of more than 10 points, which Macron enjoyed in mid-March, has evaporated, and polls before the first round showed that his margin of victory in a run-off has been reduced to the margin of error.
Significance beyond the borders of France
With the potential to change France’s post-war identity, especially if Le Pen wins, the election is of international significance.
Macron’s victory will be seen as a defeat for European populists. This, too, may not be welcomed in the Kremlin: Macron strongly supported sanctions against Russia, while Le Pen was publicly worried about their impact on French living standards.
A man walks past torn election posters of candidates for the 2022 French presidential election during the first round of voting in Paris on Sunday. (Yves Herm / Reuters)
After the vote, Le Pen said that “given the situation in the country and in the world”, the result of Sunday’s election could determine “not only the next five years, but probably the next 50 years” in France.
In the 27-nation European Union, only France has a nuclear arsenal and a UN Security Council veto. As Russian President Vladimir Putin continues his military attacks on Ukraine, French power is helping shape the European response. Macron is the only leading presidential candidate who fully supports NATO’s military alliance.
In 2017, Macron defeated Le Pen with a landslide to become the youngest modern president in France. The victory for the former banker – now 44 – is seen as a victory against the populist, nationalist policies that followed Donald Trump’s election to the White House and Britain’s vote to leave the EU in 2016.
After populist Victor Orbán won a fourth consecutive term as Hungarian prime minister just days ago, his eyes turned to France’s resurgent far-right candidates – especially National Rally leader Le Pen, who wants to ban Muslim headscarves on French streets and halal. beehive butchers, and drastically reduce immigration outside Europe.
A French voter walks past identity posters on his way to the first round of the French presidential election in Montreal on Saturday. (Peter McCabe / Canadian Press)
However, if Macron wins, it will be seen as a victory for the EU, which has shown rare unity recently in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Observers say Macron’s re-election would mean a real likelihood of increased co-operation and investment in European security and defense – especially with a new pro-European German government.
Russia’s war in Ukraine has given Macron a chance to demonstrate his influence on the international stage and to prove his pro-NATO credentials in election debates.
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